


Young Atlas

by cornerandchair



Category: Trollhunters (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Spoilers for ALL of season one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-26 02:03:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9856991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cornerandchair/pseuds/cornerandchair
Summary: Jim had never really considered the weight he boreor the implied curse that came with a nickname like "Young Atlas".Now he thinks he understands, and he knows what he has to do.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I swear this started cute like I promised.  
> And then it became this.

When Jim first heard the nickname Young Atlus he hadn’t put much thought into it. At the time it was just an odd name from a teacher that hit just a little too close to home. But as the duties that came with the Amulet began to take their toll on Jim, he started to realize just how heavy the weight was to bear.

The toll on his social life was the first thing he noticed. Not that he really had one to begin with. But he worried more. A lot more. For Toby, for Claire, for his mother. Even for Blinky, AAARRRGGHH!!!, Draal, and Vendel. He had the hopes and dreams of two sets of people on his shoulders.

Then he began to worry about himself.

But he didn’t have time for that. Not while his life was being picked apart.

First it was Miss Nomura. She had been the first wake up call to just how defenseless he really was, no matter how powerful he was as Trollhunter, he was just a boy. Barely in his mid-teens with absolutely no authority.

“I’m not a hero, Blinky…” He had confided in his Trollhunter mentor.

“Master Jim! Don’t say such things about yourself.” Blinky crossed both sets of arms. “Even if you don’t feel like a hero now, there’s a possible hero in everyone! And not only that but the Am-”

“The Amulet chose me. Yeah, I know.”

Still, Jim had a very definite idea of what a hero should be. And he wasn’t it.

What just made it all worse was when he looked into exactly who Atlas was. Bearing the weight of the The earth/sky/heavens- whatever the version of the myth decided to use- alone… It was a curse. A curse for turning against the Gods.

Jim hadn't even done anything wrong. He’d just answered a call. Then suddenly Daylight was his and his alone. The change was jarring. Not only to him but to the trolls too. 

He knew he couldn’t handle it alone. There would be no way. That’s why… That’s why he was thankful he had Toby along for the ride.

A piece of his old life coming into his new one. With Toby there he didn’t have to hold up the world alone. Well, he had Blinky and AAARRRGGHH!!! too. It just felt easier knowing Toby was there.

But as the duties piled up, as he realized just how outmatched he was, it began to be almost too much.

Strickler’s once-fond nickname now sounded like poison, Strickler himself was poison. A changeling who was dating his mother just so he could get closer to Jim. To destroy him. What tore Jim apart more was how he knew his mother was falling for it. He hated Strickler for using his mother like that.

He felt the weight pile on and on. Then Claire got dragged into the mess. Claire, the girl he'd had a crush on for ages, of all people wound up becoming one of his closest companions. He knew he never would have gotten this far without them but…

Jim was putting them in danger by having them close to him. Sure, he wouldn’t trade any of them or any of the time away. He knew he was doing exactly what he needed to and in the best way he knew how. He was changing things for the better.

Or… He thought he was.

Everything just got worse and worse after Angor Rot arrived on the scene. Better and worse.

Jim finally managed to convince the previous Trollhunters his connections to his friends weren’t weakness to him.

At the same time he finally realized his friends' connections to him as dangerous to them.

It was his fault Claire had been away from home long enough for the goblins to steal Enrique away and replace him with NotEnrique. It was his fault Draal had lost his arm. It was his fault AAARRRGGHH!!! had been hit by Angor Rot’s blade and started turning to stone, and from that, it was his fault that Blinky and Toby had lost a dear friend. It was, in a long round about way, his fault that Strickler had been stripped of the one person he’d actually come to care about. It was his fault that his mother got caught up in it all by not telling her sooner. It was his fault Gnome Chomsky had his horn cut off to send a message.

This was the realization he came to as Strickler left. As much as Jim didn’t like to admit, or even the thought, that Stickler did love his mother. Jim could now full well understand the heavy feeling of knowing you needed to leave to keep the one you loved safe.

Now more than ever the title Young Atlas weighed on his shoulders just as much at the mantle of Trollhunter.

As Young Atlas he had not the weight of one, but three worlds on his shoulders. The world above, with all the humans striving for life. The world below, with all the peaceful Trolls who just wanted to be in peace. The Darklands, all the Changeling familiars that needed to be freed and returned to the world above.

With all the danger. All the pain. All the loss.

Jim was the Trollhunter.  
For the glory of Merlin, Daylight was his to command.  
He had been given a sacred mission to uphold,  
Young Atlas would blot out Gunmar’s darkness with his light  
and would enter the Darklands... 

He placed the final Triumbric stone into the Amulet.

Jim was the Trollhunter.  
For the doom of Gunmar, Eclipse was his to command.  
He would complete the sacred mission he was given,  
Young Atlas would carry the weight placed upon his shoulders  
and the curse of carrying it alone...


End file.
